Edmonton's indie music stores optimistic despite HMV bankruptcy
'This is the kind of model that's going to work going forward; the smaller, locally-owned record store'
With the country's mightiest music chain limping into oblivion, independent retailers in Edmonton are not ready to sing their swan song just yet.
HMV Canada has gone bankrupt. The retailer was hemorrhaging cash, losing $100,000 a day as customers turned towards digital media for their music and videos.
Though the timbre of the Canadian music industry has changed, its clear Peter Ferguson hasn't changed his tune about the future of his own business. Revolver Inc, which has two locations in Edmonton, specializes in hard-to-find and out-of-print DVDs, CDs and vinyl.
"This is the kind of model that's going to work going forward; the smaller, locally-owned record store instead of the huge chains," Ferguson said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
"It was probably too little too late. You're seeing it with all the department stores as well. I don't think that business model works anymore."
Ferguson expects smaller retailers like him will see an uptick in business when the remaining HMV stores across Canada close in three months.
"I would anticipate our business getting a spike, with no other place to buy new or used CDs or DVDs, so that would be positive," he said.
"But again, we need to see how the vacuum is going to be filled for new releases and that sort of stuff that we don't traditionally deal with."
The day the music died
Ferguson acknowledged that, like HMV, CD sales make up the bulk of his company's profits.
But he said there are small but important differences in their business models. And while big chains lost most of their customers to a surge in digital sales, they have not.
By offering hard-to-find items and a wide selection of vinyl, they've held on to older customers, instead of relying on youth to shell out their disposable incomes.
"Teenagers and people in their early 20s aren't spending their money on physical copies of DVDs and CDs, where people of the older generation still very much want physical copies," Ferguson said.
"When I was a teenager, that's what you did when you went to the mall, you went to the record store. I don't get any teenagers in here anymore. I think that's one of the main reasons why the HMV eventually did go under."
The latest report from Boarder City Media, a company that tracks music sales in Canada, shows vinyl sales grew by more than 50 per cent from 2015 to 2016. Vinyl and streaming audio are now the only two growing segments of the music sales business.
'I think we'll be OK for the foreseeable future'
Rich Liukko, owner of Freecloud Records, agrees — the appetite for vinyl shows no sign of waning. But he's more apprehensive about what the end of HMV means for the future of Canada's music industry, and consumer spending habits.
"Canada has just lost its mainstream retailer," he said. "The analogy I've been using is, imagine if the major chain grocery stores all went under tomorrow, where would you buy your food?"
Over the years, HMV has focused its sales on new releases and best-sellers. Liukko says he has no intentions on filling that void. The profit margins for CDs are too slim.
Liukko said the loss of the major retailer has caused "lots of confusion" in the industry. Manufacturers, distributors and record labels are apprehensive that with HMV gone, more Canadians will shop the internet for their music.
And once they've gone digital, those customers may never come back to the record store.
"A lot of people like owning music as a hard copy in Canada, which is really cool, although streaming is making a big impact," he said.
"I think we'll be OK for the foreseeable future, but if people are weaned from hard copy music and forced to go to streaming, it could have an impact on us."
Liukko said he's hoping the industry can pick up some of the slack.
"With an industry of that magnitude, hopefully someone steps up and sees the mainstream as a good business opportunity."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Ariel Fournier